Cory Spangenberg (2B/3B, SD) - Waiver Wire Analysis

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ANALYSIS: Cory Spangenberg who was called up last month to play for the San Diego Padres, continues to play all over the field and bat leadoff. This past week alone Spangenberg played in 6 out of 7 games and batted in leadoff in each of them. What is unique is that he did all that while playing both second and third base.

The reason he has been getting so much playing time is because the two original starters in Will Middlebrooks .233/.254/.372 and Jedd Gyorko .208/.276/.333 have really been pretty bad this year. Neither of the players are playing as expected and for Gyorko time seems to be running out of what was supposed to be a great power hitting talent. This has led to Spangenberg playing both positions.

In his short time so far in the majors Spangenberg has hit .221/.290/.364 and has been accompanied by 2 HR, 11 R, 4 RBI and 4 SB. While his average may not be anything special a deeper look into his stats can show us why he has been batting leadoff and why he should be considered.

He has a good batting eye which has led to a BB% of 9% which is 2% above the league average, has league average contact rate at 79%, and has achieved a speed score of 7.3. His speed score is right in line with players such as Lorenzo Cain, Bret Gardner, Ben Revere and Carlos Gomez.

In terms of pedigree he was a top 10 selection in 2011 in front of George Springer. While that may not mean he is better than Springer it just goes to show what people thought of him and his skills when he was drafted.

Last stat to consider is that his ISO% (14.3%), which is the percentage of hits that result in an extra base hit not including HR, is on par with or even better than Gyorko (12.5%) , Middlebrooks (14.7%) and Yongervis Solarte (10.7%) who are his main competition.

All off-season people spoke about how the Padres lacked a natural leadoff hitter. Spangenberg has the chance to keep the role and really excel with it. If he continues hitting when Wil Myers is set to return don't be surprised to see Spangenberg batting leadoff with the team's big three (Myers, Upton, Kemp) batting behind him. He should score lots of runs and with his walks be able to use his speed as well.